Current Assets

流动资产

By Adam Hayes

Reviewed By Margaret James

Updated May 10, 2020

作者：Adam Hayes

审核人：Margaret James

更新时间：2020年5月10日

What Are Current Assets?

什么是流动资产？

Current assets represent all the assets of a company that are expected to be conveniently sold, consumed, used, or exhausted through standard business operations with one year. Current assets appear on a company's balance sheet, one of the required financial statements that must be completed each year.

流动资产指企业预计在一年内出售、消费、使用或在一般业务运营中用尽的所有资产。流动资产列示于企业的资产负债表上，资产负债表是每年必须要完成的财务报表之一。

Key Takeaways:

文章要点：

· Current assets are all the assets of a company that are expected to be sold or used as a result of standard business operations over the next year.

流动资产指企业预计在未来一年出售或在一般业务运营中使用的所有资产。

· Current assets include cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, stock inventory, marketable securities, pre-paid liabilities, and other liquid assets.

流动资产包括现金、现金等价物、应收账款、存货、有价证券、预付负债和其他流动资产。

· Current assets are important to businesses because they can be used to fund day-to-day business operations and to pay for the ongoing operating expenses.

流动资产对于企业来说非常重要，因为它们可以用于为日常业务经营提供资金，以及用于支付持续的经营费用。

Current assets include cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, stock inventory, marketable securities, pre-paid liabilities, and other liquid assets. Current assets may also be called current accounts.

流动资产包括现金、现金等价物、应收账款、存货、有价证券、预付负债和其他流动资产。流动资产也可称为流动账款。

Current Assets

流动资产

Understanding Current Assets

了解流动资产

Current assets contrast with long-term assets, which represent the assets that cannot be feasibly turned into cash in the space of a year. They generally include land, facilities, equipment, copyrights, and other illiquid investments.

流动资产与长期资产相对应。长期资产指无法在一年内变现的资产，一般包括土地、设施、设备、版权和其他非流动性投资。

Current assets are important to businesses because they can be used to fund day-to-day business operations and to pay for ongoing operating expenses. Since the term is reported as a dollar value of all the assets and resources that can be easily converted to cash in a short period, it also represents a company’s liquid assets.

流动资产对于企业来说很重要，因为它们可以用于为日常业务经营提供资金，以及用于支付持续的经营费用。由于此术语以能在短期内轻松转换为现金的所有资产和资源的美元价值报告，因此也代表企业的速动资产。

However, care should be taken to include only the qualifying assets that are capable of being liquidated at the fair price over the next one-year period. For instance, there is a strong likelihood that many commonly used fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) goods produced by a company can be easily sold over the next year. Inventory is included in the current assets, but it may be difficult to sell land or heavy machinery, so these are excluded from the current assets.

然而，需要注意的是流动资产仅能包括能够在未来一年内以公允价格变现的合格资产。例如，一家企业生产的许多常用快消品在未来一年中被售出的可能性很大。因此存货列示于流动资产中，但是土地或重型机械却很难出售，因此，它们被排除在流动资产之外。

Depending on the nature of the business and the products it markets, current assets can range from barrels of crude oil, fabricated goods, work in progress inventory, raw materials, or foreign currency.

根据企业及其所销售的产品的性质，流动资产可包括桶装原油、制成品、在制品库存、原材料或外币。

Key Components of Current Assets

流动资产的关键组成部分

Cash, cash equivalents, and liquid investments in marketable securities, such as interest-bearing short-term Treasury bills or bonds, are obvious inclusions in current assets. However, the following are also included in current assets:

现金、现金等价物、有价债券中的流动投资（如计息短期国库券或债券）显然都属于流动资产。但其实，以下资产也包括在流动资产中：

Accounts Receivable/应收账款

Accounts receivable—which is the money due to a company for goods or services delivered or used but not yet paid for by customers—are considered current assets as long as they can be expected to be paid within a year. If a business is making sales by offering longer terms of credit to its customers, a portion of its accounts receivables may not qualify for inclusion in current assets.

应收账款------客户就企业已提供的或其使用的商品或服务而应向但尚未向企业支付的款项------只要预计能在一年内收到，就被视为流动资产。如若企业通过向客户提供更长的信用期以进行销售，则部分应收账款可能不符合列入流动资产的条件。

It is also possible that some accounts may never be paid in full. This consideration is reflected in an allowance for doubtful accounts, which is subtracted from accounts receivable. If an account is never collected, it is written down as a bad debt expense, and such entries are not considered current assets.

某些账款可能永远也无法被全额支付。这一考量反映在呆账准备金中，呆账准备金从应收账款中提取。若某项账款无法被收回，则被计入坏账费用，且不将此类条目视为流动资产。

Inventory/存货

Inventory—which represents raw materials, components, and finished products—is included as current assets, but the consideration for this item may need some careful thought. Different accounting methods can be used to inflate inventory, and, at times, it may not be as liquid as other current assets depending on the product and the industry sector.

存货-----即原材料、零件和成品-----属于流动资产，但考量这一项目时，可能需要多花点心思。可以使用不同的会计方法增加存货。有时，根据产品和行业领域的不同，存货的流动性可能不如其他流动资产。

For example, there is little or no guarantee that a dozen units of high-cost heavy earth-moving equipment may be sold over the next year, but there is a relatively higher chance of a successful sale of a thousand umbrellas in the coming rainy season. Inventory may not be as liquid as accounts receivable, and it blocks working capital. If the demand shifts unexpectedly, which is more common in some industries than others, inventory can become backlogged.

比如说，我们很难保证十几套高成本的重型土方设备能在未来一年售出，但在即将到来的雨季里，成功售出一千把雨伞倒是很有可能的。存货的流动性可能不如应收账款，且存货会影响流动资金的获得。如若需求发生意外变化（这在某些行业可能更常见），存货就有可能积压。

Prepaid Expenses/预付费用

Prepaid expenses—which represent advance payments made by a company for goods and services to be received in the future—are considered current assets. Although they cannot be converted into cash, they are the payments already made. Such components free up the capital for other uses. Prepaid expenses could include payments to insurance companies or contractors.

预付费用-----即企业就未来将要接受的商品和服务预先支付的款项-----被视为流动资产。预付费用无法被转换为现金，它们是已经支付的费用。 此类组成部分释放了用于其他用途的资本。预付费用包括向保险企业或承包商支付的费用。

On the balance sheet, current assets are normally displayed in order of liquidity; that is, the items that are most likely to be converted into cash are ranked higher. The typical order in which current assets appear is cash (including currency, checking accounts, and petty cash), short-term investments (such as liquid marketable securities), accounts receivable, inventory, supplies, and pre-paid expenses.

在资产负债表中，流动资产一般按流动性顺序列示；也就是说，最有可能转换为现金的项目排的更靠前。流动资产列示的一般顺序为现金（包括货币、支票账户和小额备用金）、短期投资（如流动的有价证券）、应收账款、存货、供应品、预付费用。

Thus, the current assets formulation is a simple summation of all the assets that can be converted to cash within one year. For instance, looking at a firm's balance sheet, we can add up:

因此，流动资产的计算公式就是可以在一年内转换为现金的所有资产的简单相加之和。例如，通过参考一家企业的资产负债表，我们可以将以下项目相加，计算出流动资产：

Current Assets = C + CE + I + AR + MS + PE + OLA

流动资产= C + CE + I + AR + MS + PE + OLA

where:

其中：

C = Cash

C=现金

CE = Cash Equivalents

CE=现金等价物

I = Inventory

I=存货

AR = Accounts Receivable

AR=应收账款

MS = Marketable Securities

MS=有价证券

PE = Prepaid Expenses

PE=预付费用

OLA = Other Liquid Assets

OLA=其他流动资产

Real World Example

真实示例

Leading retailer Walmart Inc.'s (WMT) total current assets for the fiscal year ending January 2019 is the total of the summation of cash ($7.72 billion), total accounts receivable ($6.28 billion), inventory ($44.27 billion), and other current assets ($3.62 billion), which amount to $61.89 billion.1 

零售巨头沃尔玛（WMT）在截至2019年1月的财年中，流动资产总额为现金（77.2亿美元）、应收账款总额（62.8亿美元）、存货（442.7亿美元）及其他流动资产（36.2亿美元）之和，即618.9亿美元。

Similarly, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) had cash and short-term investments ($134.25 billion), total accounts receivable ($23.53 billion), total inventory ($1.82 billion), and other current assets ($7.47 billion) as of December 31, 2019. Thus, the technology leader's total current assets were $167.07 billion.2

同样，截至2019年12月31日，微软公司（MSFT）拥有1342.5亿美元的现金和短期投资、235.3亿美元的应收账款、18.2亿美元的总存货及74.7亿美元的其他流动资产。因此，这家科技巨头的流动资产总额为1670.7亿美元。

Uses of Current Assets/流动资产的使用 

The total current assets figure is of prime importance to the company management with regards to the daily operations of a business. As payments toward bills and loans become due at the end of each month, management must be ready to spend the necessary cash. The dollar value represented by the total current assets figure reflects the company’s cash and liquidity position and allows management to prepare for the necessary arrangements to continue business operations.

就企业的日常经营而言，流动资产对于企业管理层至关重要。由于每个月底都有账单和贷款到期应付，管理层必须准备好花费必要的现金。流动资产总额代表的美元价值反映了企业的现金和流动性状况，能使管理层作出必要的安排，以继续开展业务。

Additionally, creditors and investors keep a close eye on the current assets of a business to assess the value and risk involved in its operations. Many use a variety of liquidity ratios, which represent a class of financial metrics used to determine a debtor's ability to pay off current debt obligations without raising external capital. Such commonly used ratios include current assets, or its components, as a component of their calculations.

此外，债权人和投资者会密切关注企业的流动资产状况，以评估企业的价值及经营风险。许多人会使用各种流动性比率，这些比率代表了一类用于确定债务人在不筹集外部资本的情况下偿还当前债务的能力的财务指标。此类常用的比率将流动资产或其组成部分作为计算的一部分。

Financial Ratios Using Current Assets or Their Components/使用流动资产或其组成部分的财务比率

Due to different attributes attached to business operations, different accounting methods, and different payment cycles, it can be challenging to correctly categorize components as current assets over a given time horizon. The following ratios are commonly used to measure a company’s liquidity position. Each ratio uses a different number of current asset components against the current liabilities of a company.

由于经营活动的不同属性、不同的会计方法和付款周期，因此在给定的时间范围内将组成部分正确地分类为流动资产可能并不容易。以下比率常常用于衡量一家企业的流动性状况。每个比率使用的都是企业流动资产的不同组成部分与流动负债的比率。

The current ratio measures a company's ability to pay short-term and long-term obligations and takes into account the total current assets (both liquid and illiquid) of a company relative to the current liabilities.

流动比率是衡量企业短期和长期偿债能力的指标，考虑的是企业流动资产总额（流动和非流动的资产）相对于流动负债的比率。

The quick ratio measures a company's ability to meet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets. It considers cash and equivalents, marketable securities, and accounts receivable (but not the inventory) against the current liabilities.

速动比率是衡量企业用其流动性最佳的资产偿还短期负债的能力的指标。这一比率考虑的是现金和现金等价物、有价证券和应收账款（但没有存货）与流动负债的比率。

The cash ratio measures the ability of a company to pay off all of its short-term liabilities immediately and is calculated by dividing the cash and cash equivalents by current liabilities.

现金比率是衡量企业直接偿还其短期债务能力的指标，计算方法为现金和现金等价物除以流动负债。

While the cash ratio is the most conservative ratio as it takes only cash and cash equivalents into consideration, the current ratio is the most accommodating and includes a wide variety of components for consideration as current assets. These various measures are used to assess the company’s ability to pay outstanding debts and cover liabilities and expenses without having to sell fixed assets.

现金比率是最保守的比率（因为它仅考虑现金和现金等价物），而流动比率是最宽松的比率，将很多组成部分作为流动资产考虑。这些不同的方法被用于评估企业在无需出售固定资产的情况下偿还未偿债务及偿付负债和支出的能力。